So on July 4 we are having our First Annual Family Smoke Off. Wife got me a smoker 2 years ago and i've made some awesome stuff. My cousins also smoke alot and of course some trash talking occurred. That turned into having a "SMOKE OFF" on july 4. I don't want to go into this with the "standard" smoked meats. So far on the menu I am making Chicken Cordon Blue and pulled port. I would like to try and do something else that is not standard. Any idea? I think my cousin is bringing smoked mac and cheese to the table so thats out. Thanks for the help!

Dutch's beans are good. Take chicken thighs and remove the bone. wrap the thigh around an ABT and then wrap it all with the chicken skin. These are really good. I also saw in a post the other day about a bacon wrapped fish fattie. It was stuffed with a creamy crab mixture. Below are a few other ideas you don't get everyday

Abt's are stuffed peppers. I take jalapenos and canoe them, Remove seed and membrane, put a spoonful of a regular and garlic/parmesean cream cheese mixture in the pepper, put a sausage link on top, then wrap the whole thing with a piece of bacon. I use tooth picks to hold it all together while it cooks. As far as the kangaroo meat goes I have a butcher here in town that gets it in. He also gets in whole gator that has been stripped. I haven't cooked one of these but a friend of mine has and he said it was the greatest thing ever. Do a google search for exotic meat markets near your town. If no luck there are plenty of websites you can buy from that will ship it to you in dry ice. I promise if you whip out the kangaroo and the gator on the table you will win the family cook off

Emu or Ostrich Fan Filets are great. They smoke up like a Tri Tip and are best Med/Rare and sliced on a bias. Smoked Crab Cakes are really good and I won 2 Throwdowns with these recipes, Smoked Shrimp Salad and Flat Iron Steak Po' Boys and Smoked Chicken Galantine with Country Pate', fancy term for bulk sausage...JJ

Man Chef JimmyJ. All those look great. Just may have to give them crab cakes a go.

Without blowing my Horn to loudly...Those are some of the Best Crab cakes I have ever had. As I mentioned in my post, I frequently had Maryland folks in my restaurant. I had a group made up of younger PA residents that had their Maryland parents and other older adults in town for a visit. I overheard one of the kids suggest getting the Crab cakes to which her Mom responded," NO ONE outside of Maryland knows a damn thing about making Crab cakes! " I sent some out with their meal and had the Mom stand hug me, apologize and thank me for proving her wrong. Though they are not a hard core traditional Maryland Recipe, I knew at that moment not to mess with the recipe any further. That was in '98 and I've been making them the same way since. I hope you and your guests enjoy them...JJ

Just a thought ; a lot of people celebrate Christmas in July , I was thinking , make the whole menu a smoked meal. Turkey , Gravy , Cranberry sauce , Vegetables , Dessert , everything smoked , no Oven usage or no boiled foods .

We did this a few years back at a local Campground.

Included :

Corn

Cornbread

Homemade Rolls

Pumpkin Pie

Asparagus

Green Beans

Carrot Cake

Gravy

Turkey and Ham

Cranberries

Cherry Ham glaze

This was done between 3 campsites together and was a fabulous , even had a gift exchange which the Kids LOVED.